1. Field of Invention
A small animal restraining device for the veterinarian treatment of small animals provides an enclosure having an opaque integrated front panel having a plurality of access panels, a rear panel, a floor panel and a cover lid forming a rectangular box defining an interior cavity, a first door panel attached to the rear panel and a second door attached to the rear panel, each door having a head engaging means within a head opening, and a central interior squeeze panel pivotally and adjustably anchored within the interior cavity to the floor panel, the central interior squeeze panel urged towards the front panel to secure a body portion of the small animal between the central interior panel and the front panel while securing a head portion of the small animal within the head opening of either the first door or the second door, the head openings of the first door and second door providing the only light to the interior cavity, except for when one or more of the access panels are open to access the body portion of the restrained small animal.
2. Description of Prior Art
The following United States patents were discovered and are disclosed within this application for utility patent. The first three patents disclosed all relate to small animal restraint devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,196 to Young, a cat restraint is disclosed having a modular frame, much like that of a cot frame over which is attached a sling having opening for placement of the limbs of the cat and a front and rear harness apparatus to retain the cat on the top of the sling. Its primary function is to restrain a cat for bathing or veterinarian care. A similar animal restrain is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,8236,146 to Alaniz, wherein the frame is on wheels and a restraining litter is applied to the upper frame, the litter having a plurality of spaced holes for again retaining the limbs of the animal placed upon the device. A pig is shown in FIG. 3 as the restrained animal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,069 to Anderson discloses a hollow clear tube within which is placed a laboratory rodent, is primarily designed to provide opening to the eyes of the rodent with an end hole through which the animal's nose may take in air, with a rear panel to prevent the animal from backing out of the tube during restraint.
Larger animal restraints were also located. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,854 to Burns, a cattle chute is disclosed which may be rotated in a vertical direction, the animal confined within the chute with the chute being rotated for access to the upper and lower extremities of the confined animal. It has a rear and front panel, two side panels which may be drawn towards each other to pinch the animal sides, with the front panel having an opening through which the head of the animal may protrude while retaining the sides of the neck of the animal. A similar chute is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,572 to Meier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,846 to Reinhold is a pickup mounted portable head restraint for restraining an animal in the field while medical attention is rendered to an animal. A pending patent, Application No. Us 2004/0168652A1 to Priefert also discloses an animal chute with a rear panel and a front head catch with the side opening out to release the animal after restraint.
None of the above patents, alone or in combination disclose an enclosure having an opaque integrated front panel having a plurality of access panels, a rear panel, a floor panel and a cover lid forming a rectangular box defining an interior cavity, a first door panel attached to the rear panel and a second door attached to the rear panel, each door having a head engaging means within a head opening, and a central interior squeeze panel pivotally and adjustably anchored within the interior cavity to the floor panel, the central interior squeeze panel urged towards the front panel to secure a body portion of the small animal between the central interior panel and the front panel while securing a head portion of the small animal within the head opening of either the first door or the second door, the head openings of the first door and second door providing the only light to the interior cavity.